Nigerians are reportedly out in their numbers as the country, now Africa’s biggest economy, to vote in the country’s 15th head of state, but only its fifth democratically elected president. No fewer than 56 million people are set to cast their votes. This represents 81.9 percent of the total number of 70,383,427 voters registered by the country’s electoral body INEC.
The elections is considered the most closely contested since the country’s return to democracy in May 1999. It see former military ruler, General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress (APC) challenge incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the ruling People’s Democratic Party. Both went head-to-head in 2011, an election that divided the electorates between the North and South.
Prior to the elections postponement in February, polls favoured the leading opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari. He was thought, at the time, as having the will to address the Boko Haram menace, which grounded economic activities in the North East. All, issues of corruptions linked to the current administration had dented the image of President Jonathan.
However, his economic and developmental results still make for good reading. Nigeria toppled South Africa to become the continent’s top economy, as sectors like agriculture, ICT and telecommunication have reduced the country’s reliance on oil.
The recent onslaught against Boko Haram, motivated by the multinational joint military forces, has also swung the pendulum away from the opposition as Nigeria has retaken 13 out the 14 areas held by the terrorists, including Gwoza, its headquarters.
So far, peace and transparency are the words coming out of most polling booths, though issues with the newly-implemented card readers are disrupting plans for a smooth registration process. President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife were unable to use their PVCs as the card readers could not verify their information. They had to be registered using other national identifications.
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